


hopeless daze

by dizzyondreams



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, flanter (flirty banter) it's my new term LOOK IT UP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-09 21:38:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6924409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzyondreams/pseuds/dizzyondreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somewhere between his alarm going off that morning, and now, Jean Kirschtein has made a terrible, fatal mistake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hopeless daze

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted to tumblr @ girlshinji

Somewhere between his alarm going off that morning, and now, Jean Kirschtein has made a terrible, fatal mistake. He dodged a couple of wandering first years as he speed walked across campus, checking his watch and gritting his teeth as he willed himself to not break into a run. He still had some dignity, after all.

The cataclysmic, awful mistake? Jean had thought that he’d have enough self-control not to go back to sleep after his 7am alarm, and had seriously underestimated himself.

This left him practically sprinting across campus to his first lecture of the day, satchel thumping against his thigh as he dodged between students. He had Ancient History with Levi Ackerman; probably the most bitter and pedantic little man Jean had ever had the displeasure of being lectured by. So far he was already five minutes late. If he got to the lecture room in another five minutes, he may just escape a verbal beheading. Anything after that? Jean was a dead man.

He took the stairs two at a time, not bothering to wait for the lift which he knew was slow and doddery at best, a death trap at worst. Three flights of stairs, two long treks down identical corridors, and Jean found himself standing outside the lecture hall. He took a minute to compose himself, try and make himself sound and look less like he’d just sprinted a mile. He could hear the steady drone of a voice from inside, and as he cracked the door open and slipped in, he kept his head down to avoid Levi’s no doubt steely glare.

He sat behind a guy who seemed to be fast asleep with his face pillowed on his arms, papers spread out around him that seemed to be mostly covered in doodles. Jean didn’t recognise him, or rather, he didn’t recognise the back of his head. Jean bit back a smirk and started pulling his textbooks out his bag. _Probably sat down in the wrong lecture,_ he thought, _idiot_.

About thirty seconds after that, Jean realised it was _him_ that had sat down in the wrong lecture, and that it was _him_ who was the idiot. It was sobering realisation, though not as sobering as the thought of having to catch up on the notes from Levi’s lecture.

He checked his emails quickly, groaned internally at the email from Levi about a room change, and then shot his friend Connie a text asking for the notes. Hopefully he’d lend them to him, and hopefully Jean wouldn’t have to do anything embarrassing for them like last time. He hadn’t been able to get the wine stains out of his sheets for weeks after.

He settled back in his seat to quietly fume at his own stupidity. Every so often the guy in front of him would make a snuffly half-snore, wake up a little, blink at the lecturer, then go back to sleep. Jean wondered if he should take a leaf out of the guy’s book, as his dash out of bed that morning and the usual insomnia keeping him awake meant he wasn’t exactly well rested.

He dismissed it. He’d never slept through a lecture and he didn’t intend to start, even though this lecture didn’t make a word of sense to him. He sat back and fiddled with his phone for a few minutes, then quickly grew bored and settled in to stare off into space. The guy in front of him was drooling on his papers, and Jean slowly extended his hand to nudge him in the shoulder. He brushed Jean off, but after a few attempts he made a sleepy sound of annoyance and sat up.

A piece of lined paper was stuck to his cheek, and he frowned as he peeled it off.

“What d’you want?” He mumbled, grinding the heel of his palm into his eye and yawning. Jean spared a glance at the lecturer, who seemed to be immersed in his powerpoint presentation.

“What class is this?” He hissed, and the guy frowned in confusion as he settled back into his seat, arching his back with a groan.

“Philosophy.” He answered shortly, relaxing against the back of his chair and tipping his head back against the seat. He had very green eyes, Jean noticed, thick, unruly dark hair, and two moles on his throat. Jean found himself vaguely entranced by the red lines on his cheek from where he’d been sleeping on his arm. “And I’ve never seen you here before.” He added, arranging his papers more neatly as he spoke.

“Yeah, uh,” Jean chuckled, keeping his voice low so the lecturer didn’t call them out for talking. “I’m not in this class.”

“Figures.” The guy said, then yawned. “You do what, history, lit?”

“History.” Jean said slowly, then frowned and leaned forward across the desk a little; curling his hands over the edge, so close to the guy he could feel the sleepy warmth coming off him. “Why do you figure I don’t do philosophy?”

The guy shrugged disinterestedly, gazing off at the front of the hall, eyes unfocused. “You just seem like a history guy, is all.” He turned in his seat, gave Jean a once over that left him feeling prickly and warm. “A little…uptight.”

Jean glared at him, trying to work out how he could voice how offended he was right in the middle of a lecture. He settled for a hissed, “I am not uptight!” It wasn’t one of his best comebacks to date, admittedly, and in retrospect possibly served to make him seem more uptight. The guy’s reaction wasn’t even satisfying, just another shrug and a muttered, “Whatever, man.”

Jean bared his teeth at the back of the guy’s head in annoyance. He’d been awake two minutes and had already managed to piss off Jean, which must have been a new record for him. If he wasn’t feeling so dreamy about the guy’s huge, Disney green eyes, Jean might’ve slapped the back of his head or something equally childish. Instead, he restrained himself, leaned forward over the desk again.

“What’s your name?” He said lowly, and the guy shifted a little closer to him and gave him a funny little look.

“Why d’you wanna know?” He asked teasingly, a smile curling the corner of his mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be weird if I was talking to you and I didn’t?” Jean said, and he just shrugged, a smirk tugging on his lips.

“Who says we have to talk?” He murmured, flicking his eyes back to the front of the lecture hall. “I’m _trying_ to get an education here.” He turned back around to face the front, picked up his pen and started chewing it.

“I’m Jean.” Jean said, “Jean Kirschtein.”

“Eren Jaeger.” He said without turning around, his dark head bent over his textbook as if he’d been paying attention the whole time, not sleeping on his notes.

“You a third year?” Jean asked, and when the guy didn’t reply he wilted back in his chair in defeat. It was way too early and he was way under-caffeinated to be dealing with difficult assholes like this guy.

The rest of the hour ticked by slowly, and by the end Jean had run the battery down on his phone checking for Connie’s reply to his text and playing some inane games. When he glanced up, Eren was packing away his papers, a battered old army jacket pulled on over his jumper, his hair sticking up at the back. The red lines on his face had faded, and when he caught Jean’s eye he grinned, eyeteeth pointy and mouth crooked. Jean felt that flush of attraction again, and scowled as he shoved his books roughly back into his satchel.

“Enjoy the lecture?” Eren called after Jean as he stalked away down the corridor, walking just quickly enough that Eren had to jog to catch up with him, slinging an over-familiar arm around his shoulder as he did so.

“Not really.” Jean said, shrugging him off. He smelt of cigarettes and clean hair, and the contrast between nice smell/bad smell left Jean’s senses in disarray. “I’d have much rather been in my own and not have to spend a few hours tonight copying up.”

“God,” Eren snorted and shook his head, pushing his thick dark hair off his face as he did so. Silver rings glinted on his fingers, and Jean turned away quickly. “You are so fuckin’ boring.”

“Fuck off.” Jean shot back, walking a little more quickly. Eren still kept up with him, and Jean threw him a dirty look as they left the building and emerged into the cool October air. “At least I’m not some pretentious pseudo-intellectual hipster.” He muttered, pulling his phone out to check the time. He had two hours to kill before his noon seminar, and he groaned inwardly at the thought of it.

“You got me there.” Eren said thoughtfully, and stepped back a little as he sized Jean up once again. After a pause, he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, looking pensive. “You got anything now?”

Jean willed himself to be stronger than the faint desires of his dick, but ended up shaking his head anyway. “Seminar at twelve.” He said, and the stirrings of annoyance in his chest lessened when Eren grinned again, impish and genuine.

“You wanna get a coffee?” He asked, and when Jean didn’t reply he laughed. “Promise I won’t bite.”

“I don’t know if I want to get a coffee with a guy who thinks I’m fucking boring.” Jean muttered, glancing away across campus. A cold wind stirred the ends of his scarf, the tips of the Eren’s overgrown hair. It brought the smell of autumn with it, wet leaves and fresh rain, and Jean shivered. A coffee honestly sounded amazing.

“You just have a terminal case of stick up your ass.” Eren quipped, already stepping away towards the nearest Starbucks, as if expecting Jean to follow. Predictably, Jean followed.

“Oh, yeah?” Jean asked, grinning despite himself. Eren was funny, even if he was making fun of him. “And how did you come to that conclusion about me so quickly?”

“I’m a fuckin’ doctor, mate, obviously.” His laughter was contagious, and Jean found himself laughing along. “But don’t worry, a little time with me and you’ll be sorted.” Eren nudged him companionably in the side, and Jean snorted and bumped into him.

“Maybe I don’t want to be sorted.” Jean shot back, and Eren raised his eyebrow. They parted for a second as Eren swerved to avoid a puddle, and when he was back by Jean’s side he shook his head.

“Man, believe me, you do.” He said with a laugh, and Jean found himself a little bit breathless when he turned his head to look at him, so vibrant and warm against the cold almost-winter backdrop.

“Fuck you.” Jean said again, unintentionally soft as he opened the door to Starbucks and let Eren inside.

His phone pinged as they lined up for their coffee, and Jean knew it would be a text from Connie warning of Levi’s wrath, but Jean considered it a pretty fair trade off. He’d take Levi’s death stares any day he got to have coffee with a cute guy.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
